Dear Sir,
Please spare the crocodile tears for poor Luna the dead pit bull. While I certainly don’t condone hacking a dog to death with a machete, remember that this was a vicious, aggressive dog who attacked other dogs and who was allowed to run loose in the neighborhood.
I will admit a bit of bias. I have had numerous friends whose dogs have been attacked and injured by pit bulls – two dogs died. Several friends have suffered bites themselves when they tried to break up the attack. My husband was attacked and badly bitten by a pit bull for the sin of walking on the other side of the street from the dog’s house.
Remember that pit bulls have been bred for generations to be aggressive toward other dogs and small animals. This doesn’t go away because you are nice to the dog. Professional training can help, but a pit bull can be a time bomb that may never go off, or may go off next month or next year. A pit bull that shows aggression toward other dogs is a potentially dangerous animal. I know that other breeds can be dangerous and dog aggressive, but only the fighting breeds are selectively bred to exhibit that aggression.
What would have happened if Luna saw a child carrying a small yappy dog? What would have happened if Luna attacked and the child fought to protect the pet? My cousin did her surgical residency in a big city ER. She was part of a team who treated a little boy who’d been attacked by a pit bull. They worked for over three hours but the child died anyway.
Face it. The barrio is now a safer place for people and dogs.
Marci Bowman
Dear Sir,
Re: Letter by Mr. George Del Castillo, Reporter, November 30.
In trotting out the very worn out and insulting “if you don’t like it, leave” argument perhaps Mr. del Castillo himself is ignorant about who passed and now enforces the recently toughened noise laws.
Yes, those laws were enacted by Mexicans who are sick and tired of the over-amplified racket coming from bars, eventos, outdoor bandas with massive sound systems, late-night parties by bad neighbors and so on. No, we expats had nothing to do with it, even though many of us wholeheartedly agree.
If Mr. del Castillo had been reading El Informador and the Reporter regularly over the last year he would know this. He would also know there are serious crackdowns on noise going on in both Guadalajara and Zapopan. But not here.
Chapala talks a good game but is mostly AWOL when it comes to noise violators. For example, householders in Ajijic continue to be the involuntary audience of bars that have illegally loud music playing multiple nights of the week. Ironically, they are patronized largely by expats who seem oblivious to the nuisance they represent. Some expats are actually making the noise problem worse!
Recently, the Guadalajara Reporter was invited to the home of my neighbor to witness first hand up to 80db in their living room from just such a bar in south-east Ajijic, but did not show up. That’s unfortunate because hearing this directly really brings those dry numbers to life.
Chapala has also allowed the charros the use of municipal property, the old bull ring, for illegally loud concerts until 3 a.m. on Sunday nights. Adding injury to insult, their attendees leave Calle Revolucion and surrounding streets covered with trash which neither they nor Chapala clean up. That venue is between people’s homes on two sides. It is not a suitable place for such concerts.
My suggestion to Mr. del Castillo is that he become better informed on this topic. He can start by reading Ms. Wilson’s very informative letter published in the Reporter next to his.
Daniel H. Houck,
Ajijic
Dear Sir,
The timing of recent articles and letters on the subject of noise is fitting, because many events will be held in local salones de eventos in the coming weeks. This sensitive issue for both Mexicans and expats living in and around Ajijic and Chapala is not a new problem and is one that isn’t going away.
It is also not complicated. I have a little more insight into these matters since my wife, who is Mexican, also hates the loud music from these events, as we have been the victims of the unbelievably loud music on many occasions.
For some expats, accepting cultural differences doesn’t come easy. Mexicans like their music, and they like it loud. But there is another element to this culture thing: respect. In far too many cases, respect is an element that simply does not exist in the Mexican culture. It is not taught in homes or schools. So, if you think that everyone involved in organizing and putting on these banda events, including those who attend them, could care less about the disturbance to the surrounding neighborhoods, you are correct. They could care less. For the Mexican culture, events such as these are as normal as breathing.
The local government is also a major enabler and also could care less. We have made over 20 calls to the local police to address the issue of excessive noise. Not one response. So, when the police refuse to get involved, confrontations with the neighbors can occur.
The reality is that for those of us that have to deal with and tolerate these disturbances, it’s going to continue. Not a happy thought.
Robert Butler